A strenuous defender of social change, public housing, and land reform, the Cardinal once said, "Social injustice and poverty foster Communism...It is necessary to be Christian with social justice, with charity, with brotherhood".[1] He was awarded the Human Rights Prize from the United Nations on 11 December 1978, and the Bruno Kreisky Human Rights Prize on 19 October 1979. Henríquez, in accordance with canon law number 400 which requires that bishops submit their letter of resignation to the Pope upon turning 75, was relieved of his position as Archbishop of Santiago on 3 May 1983, after twenty-one years of service.